I collected my god-daughter from dance class the other day and we grabbed a “treat” on the way home. Charli is 10, super bright and delightful. As we ate liquid chocolate, she told me about her school assignment where they had to devise a restaurant for kids. Her big idea was that while kids were waiting for their meal, they could play in a big play area with an individual beeper attached to their shirt or worn as a wristband that would make a sound when the meal had arrived. That way they wouldn’t get bored. I thought it was a genius idea and resolved to consult her for all big projects.
Tom Searcy, author, speaker and consultant, had a similar revelation with his 9 year-old daughter. After reading that most people only remember one thing that’s presented to them in a sales call, he realized the importance of answering questions clearly, as you would to a 9 year-old.
On the question: Daddy, What Do You Do?
Right answer: “I help companies to grow really fast by teaching them how to sell bigger companies much larger orders.”
Wrong answer: “Our company helps develop inside of our clients a replicable and scalable process for them to land large accounts.”
Q: Why Do People Decide to Hire You?
Right answer: “We have helped lots of companies do this before, so we are really good at it as long as they are the right type of companies.”
Wrong answer: “We have a proven process for implementation that allows organizations to tailor the model to their market, business offering and company’s growth goals.”
Q: Why Don’t They Do It Themselves?
Right answer: “Just like when you learned to play the piano: Mommy and I could teach a little, but we don’t know as much as your teacher, and teaching you ourselves would take a long time and be very frustrating. Daddy is a really good teacher of how to make bigger sales, and people want to learn how to do this as fast as they can.”
Wrong answer: “We are the foremost expert in this field with over $5 billion in business that our clients have closed using this system. Usually our clients have tried a number of things on their own before we work together and have wanted outside help to get better results.”
More decisions are made with less information and context so you need to give as clear and memorable an answer as possible.
